Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
